A CENSUS ABERRATION 1860

Jonathan Kennon Thompson Smith

Richard Barham was the census official-enumerator who conducted the 1860 census of Henderson County, Tennessee for the federal government. While he seems to have been conscientious in rendering names and ages, he was decidedly careless in some of his arrangements of the census data.

Those persons listed as being residents of civil district 10, on pages 250 to 257 are accurately so listed as comparison with the names of those individuals found in that civil district in the slave schedule of that year and the names found in this district in the Direct Federal Tax of Henderson County, 1865-1866, will show. However, the list of persons on pages 258-259, although Barham headed these as being in civil district 10, the slave schedules and the federal tax listing indicate clearly that these individuals were actually residents of civil district 8. Therefore, the persons' names listed on these pages, as collected on August 10,1860, are in civil district 8:

Page 258: ADDISON MEALS, W. T. SMITH, H. T. WILSON, NANCY FLAKE, PENELOPE WHITE, J. ROSS, WILLIAM ELLISON, J. D. PEARSON, P. H. DOUGLAS, B. DOUGLAS, RAYBORN DOUGLAS, JANE SEATS, A. Y. DOUGLAS, W. A. DOUGLAS.

Page 259: HENRY KIRBY, E. T. McGILL, J. W. PRITCHARD, S. D. PRITCHARD, P. PEARSON, NATHAN PEARSON, S. W. WILLIAMS, JOHN PARKER, S. M. PARKER, D. H. WILLIAMS, C. J .BRITT, W. H. UTLEY, B. S. PRITCHARD, WILLIS ADAMS.

Also, three persons listed in civil district 10, top of page 255, were actually residents of civil district 8; their names: WILLIAM DRUMMON (Drummond), J. B. DOUGLAS and THOMAS C. ADAMS.

Barham listed correctly the other residents of civil district 8 (with the post office given as Oak Forest) on page 240 (July 30, 1860), page 241 (July 31, 1860), page 242 (August l, 1860), page 243 (August 2, 1860); the first half of page 244 (August 2, 1860). The second half of page 244 contains the names of persons living in civil district 10, the last person in this segment, J. R. REED, having the remainder of his family listed (August 4, 1860) at the top of page 250.

Barham listed the post office for civil district 13 as Mifflin; on the last page, 289, of this district's listing the post office is given as Shady Hill. The next page, 290, begins with civil district 14 and Shady Hill. The comparative data indicates that the names given on page 289 as being in civil district 13 are correct — they did reside in that district but the Shady Hill post office MAY be incorrect.

The last page, 330, headed civil district 20 is separated from the other listings of this district by a page. Those names on page 330 were enumerated September 27, 1860 and the other civil district 20 names were enumerated September 18-20. Barham apparently "hodge-podged" the names on page 330 under the heading of civil district 20 but comparative data indicates the persons listed on that page actually lived in civil districts: K. KIRBY, V. H. TRICE, A. H. RHODES, civil district 17; B. F. HOWARD, civil district 20; D. C. TUBBS, S. J. TUBBS, HENRY ZIMERLY, J. B. CHESHIRE, civil district 11; REBECCA BIRD, civil district 14.

In the Slave Schedule, 1860, Henderson County, Barham failed to list persons owning slaves in civil district 20 and some of the information given for the other civil districts may be incomplete. The listings in the Mortality schedule, Henderson County, for that year, although "hodge-podged" somewhat, would appear to be correctly rendered.

Other works by Jonathan K. T. Smith can be found at the Madison County Records Repository at TNGenWeb.